Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 152 The Last Greeting (14)
The man stretched out his big, tanned, powerful hand and apologized to me endlessly.

"Hope it didn't hurt you. You said I hurt her, and I'm really mad. Honestly, I don't deserve it these days. My nerves are like live wires. But I really don't know how to deal with this." This situation. Mr. Holmes, what I really want to know is how did you find me?"

"I got in touch with Dobney, Miss Frances' governess."

"That Suzanne Dobney with the turban on her head? I have an impression of her."

"Of course she remembers you too, sir. Just the other day when you thought it best to go to South America."

"Now that you know all about me, I have nothing to hide. I assure you, Mr. Holmes, that there is no one in the world who loves a woman so much as I do. Wild as I am, I know very well that I Not bad. But her heart is as white as snow and as clear as crystal, and she can't bear any kind of rudeness, so when she hears what I've done, she doesn't want to talk to me anymore. But she loves I, for me, she remained celibate. Years passed, and I made a fortune. Then I thought I could find her and impress me. I knew she was not married. I found her in Lausanne, though I did my best. I think she is weak now, but she is very strong-willed. When I went to her again, she had already left there. After chasing her to Baden, I learned that her maid was here. I I know I'm a rough man, and I've only been out of that life for a short time, and I can't get rid of that rough habit for a while, so when Dr. Watson asks me like that, I can't help it. God, tell me quickly , what is the matter with Lady Frances?"

"We must find out more," said Holmes with the utmost gravity. "What is your address in London? Mr. Green, can you tell us?"

"You can find me at the Lamb's," Green said.

"I think you'd better go back there and stay there. Don't leave. If something happens, we can contact you quickly. What do you think? I don't want you to fantasize, but you have to trust Me, for her safety, we will do our best to accomplish whatever we can, at all costs. Now I have nothing to say. I will give you my business card for better contact. Hua Sir, pack your bags at once, and I'm going to send a telegram to Mrs. Hudson, asking her to prepare something delicious for us at 07:30 tomorrow morning."

When we got home, we got a telegram.Holmes was full of surprises after reading it. He held the telegram, his eyes sparkled, and his eyebrows trembled constantly.He handed me the telegram, which read: "Nicked or torn." Baden.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That is all," said Holmes. "You will remember that I asked you a question which does not seem to have any connection with the case. It was about the missionary's left ear. You did not answer me at all."

"I had left Baden at that time and was unable to investigate at all."

"Yes. That's why I sent another letter of exactly the same content to the manager of the British Hotel. Here is the answer."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I tell you, the man we are about to deal with is very cunning and dangerous, Watson. The Reverend Dr. Slessinger is a South American missionary, but he is Henry Peters, one of the most shameless and hateful rascals in Australia. He's good at abducting lonely women and taking advantage of their religious sensibilities. He looks like a prudish guy, but in reality what he does is shady. His wife isn't real at all, just his assistant That's all, called Fraser. I see his identity through the nature of what he does, and some of his physical features: in 1889, when he was in Adelaide, he got into a fight in a salon, He was badly wounded, and this incident confirmed my suspicions. Imagine, Watson, what a disastrous result it will be, in the hands of this wicked couple."

Holmes paused for a moment, then went on: "It is probable that Lady Frances is dead. If she is not dead, she must be under house arrest, and she cannot write to Miss Dobney or any other friends at all. Perhaps she has not To London, maybe she has already arrived in London. The first possibility is unlikely, because there is a complete registration system in the European continent, and it is difficult for anyone to play tricks on the mainland police. The probability of the second possibility is also It's not too big, and this kind of place is really hard to find if the gang wants to hold someone up without anyone finding out. My instinct tells me that she is in London now, but I don't know where she is yet, don't There is no other way but to eat first, and to wait patiently, and I will go to Scotland Yard in the evening to see our friend Lethred, and talk to him."

Whether it is the police or Holmes, it is difficult to reveal this secret.In the sea of ​​tens of thousands of people in London, finding these three people is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.I looked for it specifically, but I couldn't find it at all, and it was absolutely impossible to advertise.Searching according to the clues may not be able to find it, and there is nothing to be found at the place where he committed the crime.We've spied on his old partner, but we still can't find him.

This is enough to prove that our opponent is really too cunning.Anyway, we've tried everything we can, and we've made no progress.A week passed in this way, and suddenly there was a little hope, that is, an old Spanish silver earring had been pawned in Bovington's pawnshop in Westminster Road.He was a tall, clean-shaven man with a priestly air.After understanding, it was found that the name and address were all fake.Even if no one paid attention to his ears, he must be Slessinger in the circumstances.Our friend who lives at the Lamb's Hotel has been here three times for information.When he came here for the third time, it was only an hour after we got word of the earrings.With his tall and tall body, the clothes became looser and thinner, and his eyes protruded.He always begged us: "I really want to do something for you!" Holmes finally agreed to his request.

"He's started pawning jewellery. I think we should arrest him." His impertinence came.After a while he began to worry again: "Does this mean that something has happened to her?"

Holmes shook his head gravely.

"Perhaps they are detaining her. Obviously, if she is released, she will kill herself. We should always be prepared, and it is very likely that things will go from bad to worse." Holmes said quietly, taking a puff of cigarette .

"What can I do?"

"Do those people recognize you?"

"do not know."

"Slessinger will probably go to another pawn shop to pawn things. If that happens, we will have to start all over again. If the pawn shop gave him a good price and didn't ask him where the item came from, now he Need money like that, he'll probably go to the Bovington pawn shop again. I'll write you a note, you give it to the owner of the pawn shop, and they'll tell you to wait in the shop. If that guy comes, you die Keep an eye on him, follow him to where he lives, then come back and tell me. Be careful, never act recklessly, let alone use force, have to be patient and put your temper down. You have to promise me , Without my notice and permission, you are not allowed to take any action."

This Phillips Green is the son of the Admiral, and he hasn't given us any information about the case for two days.On the third night, he came to our living room with a pale face, trembling all over his body, and every muscle in his body was constantly shaking.

"I've found him! I've found him!" he yelled at us.

He was so excited that he couldn't speak clearly.Holmes comforted him, calmed him down, and seated him in a chair.

"Well, tell us the story slowly," said Holmes.

"It wasn't the priest himself this time, but his so-called wife. About an hour ago, she brought the other earring. The woman was tall, too, with a pale face and eyes like those of a mouse. Like."

"It is she!" said Holmes.

"As soon as she left the pawn shop, I followed her to a shop in Kensington Road, Mr. Holmes, a funeral shop!"

My companion froze. "Really?" He asked tremblingly, his voice contained inner anxiety, but he tried his best to conceal it with a pale and calm face.Green continued: "I was just going in and I saw her talking to the woman at the counter. The woman in the store kept explaining. She said, 'It's too late. It's not the same.' said the woman in the shop again. Then they both stopped talking and looked at me together. I just said something and left."

"You did a good job, so what happened next?"

"When she came out of the shop, I hid in a doorway. Perhaps I aroused her suspicion at that time, and she kept looking around. Immediately after her, she called a carriage, and I called a carriage. She got off at 36 Botney Square, Princeton, and I sent the driver through that gate, and parked the car around the corner, and watched the house from inside."

"What do you see?" said Holmes.

"Didn't see anything but the ground floor windows. They drew down the shutters, so it was hard to see what was going on. I didn't know what to do there. I was in a hurry. Just then, a car A covered car drove up, and two people got out of it. After they got out of the car, they took something out of the car and put it on the steps. Mr. Holmes, it is a coffin."

"Ah!" My friend was also shocked when he heard this.

"I almost rushed out. Just then the door was opened for the two men to carry the coffin in. It was the priest's wife, whom I had just followed. She was surprised to see me there. , and quickly closed the door. I remembered what you told me, so I came here quickly." After saying this, he calmed down a lot.

"You have done a very good job," said Holmes, writing some words on the paper. "We must have a search warrant, or we are acting very illegally. Mr. Green, will you send this Take it back to the police station and get a search warrant. It might be troublesome, but the sale of the jewels will suffice. Don't worry, Lethred will take care of everything."

"But they may well have killed dear Francis. That coffin was probably meant for her."

"We will do our best, Mr. Green, there is no delay for a second now, leave this matter to us, and you can rest assured! Sir, it will be resolved."

"Now, Watson," said Holmes, after he had gone, "Lethryde will certainly send someone, and we will take our own course. In such a case, there is nothing to do but to resort to the most extreme measures." Method, go to that place right away, without any further delay."

"We have analyzed the situation logically," said Holmes, as we galloped on our way there at this moment. "These fellows have induced Frances to leave her faithful maid, and have tricked her into London, Controlled her. She wrote letters, but they seized them. So she couldn't get in touch with the outside world at all. They rented a house from their accomplices. They tried to cheat her. I think it must be locked up now Wake up. They kept her locked up and took away the valuable jewellery. They started selling the valuables, but it never occurred to them that anyone cared about the poor lady. I don't think they'll ever feed her forever After getting her jewelry, she must be killed. Only in this way, he will not be denounced."

"It's clear now."

At this time my friend made another conjecture and gave the reason: "You consider the problem from two separate trains of thought, Watson, and you will find that at some point they will converge into a true conclusion. Instead of her, we can start with the coffin. This unexpected event confirmed that the lady was dead. It also showed that she was to be buried according to the custom, so they bought the coffin. This practice must have a death prescribed by a doctor If she was killed, they should bury her in the back garden on the spot. And they are completely open, obviously, the way they killed her is not easy to be discovered, they Deceived the doctor too, and pretended to be a natural death. Their crimes are not easy to see, and they get rid of her burden. It is strange how they hide it from the doctor's eyes? Unless the doctor is also their accomplice, That's very unlikely."

"Are they going to fake certificates?" I asked.

"It is very dangerous, Watson, and it will do them no good. I do not think they will do it. Stop, coachman! We have arrived at the funeral parlor, where funerals are being performed. Go in, Watson. It's safer for you to go in, and ask what time the funerals are held in Botney Square."

The proprietress assured me that the funeral would be at nine o'clock tomorrow.

"Look, Watson, they're all in the open, not in secret! Obviously they've got legal proof, so don't be afraid, well, there's no other way at the moment, so they have to attack head-on, Watson, get ready Got it?" "Your cane!" I said.

"Okay, we are strong enough. There is a saying 'fully armed, the struggle will be victorious'. It is true, we can't wait for the police to come, because we are not regular. Our thinking with the police is in the past few cases. It's always different, so let's act! Of course we can't be restricted by the law. Coachman, you can go. Watson, we will always have good luck together, just like we did before." Holmes was confident say.

We came to a dark building in the center of Botany Square, and he rang the doorbell hard, and the door opened.A tall lady emerged from the dim light.

"What do you want?" she asked gravely, rather disapprovingly, examining us cautiously with sharp eyes.

"I'm looking for Dr. Slessinger," said Holmes.

"There is no such person here." She was about to close the door after she finished speaking.

Putting his foot against the door, Holmes said firmly, "I want to see the man who lives here, whatever his name may be, or what he may call himself." After a moment's hesitation, she finally said, "Come in, my husband is a man of honor. He's definitely not afraid to meet anyone." After closing the door, she took us to a room on the right side of the hall, turned on the gas lamp, and left.

"Mr. Peters will be here soon," she told us.She didn't lie, we hadn't looked carefully at the dilapidated cobwebbed house when the door opened and a young man entered softly, a tall, clean-shaven, bald man .His demeanor looked elegant, but his perfect image was ruined by that very murderous mouth.

"It must be a mistake, gentlemen," he said in a tactful voice. "I think you're in the wrong place. You should look down the street. There may be..."

"That's all right, but we don't want to waste any more time," said Holmes firmly, interrupting him. "You are Henry Peters of Atlaide, later called Dr. Slessinger, Reverend of Baden and South America. I affirm as surely as I am of Sherlock Holmes."

This Mr. Peters (let's call him Mr.) was taken aback when my friend spoke to him with such certainty, and stared intently at his formidable stalker, Holmes.He pretended to say: "Your name doesn't scare me. Although you are a famous detective, it has nothing to do with me. If a person is calm, others can't make him angry. Is there something wrong with you coming to my house?" "I think I know what you have done with Miss Frances Carfax, whom you brought from Baden." "I would be very obliged if you would tell me where she is," said Peters.

"She owed me about a hundred pounds and gave me a pair of earrings that were worthless. She did me a bad job. She lived with me and Mrs. Peters in Baden - I used She didn't want to leave us, she had to follow us, so we came to London together, I paid the bill and the fare for her, but after arriving in London, she disappeared, leaving me a little bit of tattered jewelry as collateral You see, I have been at such a disadvantage that I have tried to find her, but I have no clue. If you find her, Mr. Holmes, please do let me know, and I will be very obliged to you."

"I want to find her, and I shall be sure to find her here," replied Sherlock Holmes.

"Then do you have any documents for this, sir."

Holmes drew a part of the pistol from his pocket, and said solemnly: "Until better papers come, this is the best."

"It turns out that you are so bold, you are simply a robber."

"You may call me that, of course," replied Holmes cheerfully. "Isn't my accomplice also a dangerous man? And more daring than I am. Shall we search him together?"

Our opponent finally opened the door.

"Annie, call the police," he said, and there was a rustling of skirts in the passage.After the hall door was opened, it was closed again immediately. "Quick, quick, Watson, we don't have much time." Holmes said to me very seriously, and he said to Peters: "If you stop us and dare to play with us, you will be rewarded. You have just moved in." Where is your coffin?"

"What do you want it for? It's being used. It's got dead bodies in it."

He prevaricates us deliberately, and his expression is very natural.

"I need to check it out, you know?"

"No one can see it without my permission."

"Your consent is not necessary." Holmes moved very quickly, pushing him aside, like an arrow ready to be fired, about to shoot into the distance.I followed closely.The half-open door was right in front of us.We went in.

(End of this chapter)